Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges
In his TED talk, “Managing Cross-Cultural Remote Teams,” Ricardo Fernandez describes an interaction with a South African colleague who ended an IM conversation with “I’ll call you just now.” Ricardo went back to his office and waited for the call. After fifteen minutes, he called his colleague: “Weren’t you going to call me just now?” The colleague responded, “Yes, I was going to call you just now.” That’s when Ricardo realized that to his South African colleague, the phrase “just now” meant “sometime in the future.”
In today’s workplace, our colleagues may not be located in the same office, city, or even country. A growing number of tech companies have a global workforce comprised of employees with varied experiences and perspectives.
But geographically dispersed teams can face challenges. Communication can deteriorate, misunderstandings can happen, and teams may stop trusting each other—all of which can affect the success of the company.
In her book, “The Culture Map,” Erin Meyer presents eight scales into which all global cultures fit. We can use these scales to improve our relationships with international colleagues. She identifies the United States as a very low-context culture in the communication scale. In contrast, Japan is identified as a high-context culture.
What does it mean to be a high- or low-context culture? The United States, a young country composed of immigrants, follows a low-context culture: Since the people who immigrated to the United States came from different cultural backgrounds, they had no choice but to communicate explicitly and directly. In the United States, people communicate explicitly: they say what they mean and mean what they say. On the other hand, Japanese people communicate effectively by mastering the ability to “read the air.” That means they are able to pick up on social cues when communicating.
Vocabulary:
interaction – a particular instance of communicating or involvement with someone, “The interaction between the two coworkers was awkward after their disagreement in the meeting.”
just now – a South African English idiom meaning in a little while or later, “He said he would finish the report just now, but I haven’t seen it three hours later.”
sometime in the future – at a time that has not happened yet and is not specifically defined, “We plan to expand our business to Europe sometime in the future.”
global workforce – the total number of people employed by a company across many different countries, “A global workforce allows a company to operate twenty-four hours a day across different time zones.”
comprised of – made up of or including specific parts or members, “The committee is comprised of experts from five different scientific fields.”
varied – incorporating a number of different types or elements; diverse, “The students had varied reasons for joining the club, ranging from social fun to academic interest.”
perspectives – particular attitudes toward or ways of regarding something; points of view, “By listening to different perspectives, the team was able to find a creative solution to the problem.”
geographically dispersed – spread out over a wide physical area or different locations, “Managing geographically dispersed employees is difficult when they live in ten different countries.”
deteriorate – to become progressively worse in quality or condition, “Without regular maintenance, the relationship between the two partners began to deteriorate.”
misunderstandings – failures to understand something correctly, “Clear documentation can help prevent misunderstandings regarding project deadlines.”
stop trusting – to lose confidence in the honesty or reliability of someone, “Once he lied about the budget, the board members began to stop trusting his judgment.”
success – the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, “The product launch was a huge success, resulting in record-breaking sales for the month.”
eight scales – a framework of eight categories used to analyze cultural differences (from Erin Meyer’s research), “The eight scales in ‘The Culture Map’ help managers navigate cultural nuances in business.”
very low-context culture – a culture where communication is explicit, direct, and literal to avoid ambiguity, “Because Germany is a very low-context culture, people expect instructions to be extremely specific.”
communication scale – a spectrum measuring how much a culture relies on direct versus indirect messaging, “The communication scale places the US on one end and Japan on the other.”
high-context culture – a culture where communication relies heavily on implicit messages and shared cultural understanding, “In a high-context culture, what is left unsaid is often as important as what is spoken.”
young country – a nation that has existed for a relatively short period of time, “As a young country, its traditions are still evolving compared to those of ancient civilizations.”
composed of – formed of or constituted by specific ingredients or people, “The salad was composed of fresh greens, nuts, and a light vinaigrette.”
explicitly – in a clear and detailed manner, leaving no room for confusion or doubt, “The manager explicitly told the team that no overtime would be approved this week.”
directly – in a plain and honest way without trying to hide feelings or intentions, “She spoke directly to the issue rather than making excuses for the delay.”
read the air – a Japanese expression (kuuki wo yomu) meaning to sense the mood or understand a situation without it being explained, “To succeed in Tokyo business meetings, you must learn to read the air during pauses in conversation.”
pick up on – to notice or become aware of something that is not obvious, “Sensitive people can quickly pick up on tension in a room even if everyone is smiling.”
social cues – verbal or nonverbal signals like body language or tone of voice that guide social interaction, “He missed the social cues that his colleagues were bored and continued his long story for another hour.”